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Chelsea, who had been silent during our exchange, followed me out to the street. The angry waiters who seemed to be forming a plan to remove her relented when they saw I was walking her out.
Outside, I rounded on her. “Do you realize how fragile my relationship with Tia is still? What if she cuts ties with Rose and goes to another agency now?”
Chelsea folded her arms, which had the unfortunate effect of drawing my eyes to her breasts. Yeah. Definitely no bra, and definitely fantastic.
No. Stop looking. Stop thinking about how a good, quick fuck would probably do wonders for the both of you.
“Well?” I asked.
Chelsea shrugged in a way that was admittedly adorable. “Sorry, okay? I can be a little impulsive sometimes.”
“That’s it? You… Wait, how did you even know where to find me? And why does it look like you rolled out of bed to come here. And how would you even know if there was an emergency at work if you came from home?”
“These are all good questions,” Chelsea said with a slow, diplomatic edge to her voice. “One could argue that another good question is why you went on a date with that woman?”
I felt like I was about to lose my mind in a violent explosion of expletives. “Seriously? You’re being completely serious right now? You are the one who cornered me into going on the goddamn date in the first place!” I realized I was shouting, which had drawn the looks of a few people passing on the street. Given that it was New York, nobody was interested enough in our drama to stop and listen.
“I screwed up. Okay? I don’t know what was going through my head, but I shouldn’t have done that. And, yeah… I might have made up the thing about the emergency. And yes, I might’ve come from my bed. And I might’ve had to grill Dick to find out where you were.”
“You grilled… dick? What the fuck are you even talking about? Is that some kind of sick innuendo? Did you sleep with someone?”
Chelsea, who had looked like she was on the verge of tears, burst out laughing. “Grilling dick? Do you think that’s what the kids say these days? No. I mean I had to ask your formerly homeless friend, Richard. He also gave me a ride.”
I relaxed. Thinking about her sleeping with someone else, no matter how stupid I’d been to jump to the conclusion, had made me want to break something. What the hell was this woman doing to me?
“You’re an obstinate pain in my ass, and I should fire you.”
Chelsea lifted her chin but didn’t say anything to defend herself.
I felt some of the anger drain out of me. “And it was resourceful. Finding me like you did. Also, the way you pitted Tia against me with the date thing. You’ve got an edge to you that impresses me as much as it pisses me off.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Is this the ‘you’re fired’ speech?”
“No. But you did make me leave the restaurant before I got to eat. Now I’m starving. So unless you want it to turn into the ‘you’re fired’ speech, I suggest you contact Dick and get him to take us somewhere I can get a meal.”
She smiled, almost cautiously. “You want to eat a meal with me? Are you going to poison my food when I’m not looking?”
“I never said I want to eat it with you. But I will allow you to eat at the same time as me. I also haven’t decided about the poison yet.”
She clapped her hands and gave me a quick hug. I stood there like an idiot while she pressed her small body to mine, squeezing.
I officially didn’t understand the woman. It wasn’t the first time she’d flipped from looking like she was about to punch me in the face to hugging me, and I had no idea how I was supposed to read it.
Chelsea was a closed book. She was a closed book I happened to have fucked five years ago, but other than that, I had a feeling I didn’t know the first thing about her.
Why did that still bother me so much?16ChelseaDamon sat across from me at an all-night breakfast place. The dominant color scheme seemed to be mustard yellow with a side of depression. I was sure Damon was in his own special hell, especially since his not-so-favorite color was everywhere. But I was starving, and the pile of pancakes in front of me looked like the most delicious thing on Earth. Well, assuming I wasn’t allowed to enter Damon into the contest.
Yes. I was gradually coming to terms with the fact that I was violently, ferociously, unreasonably attracted to the man. I was drawn to him like a fly to the neon blue light. Except I couldn’t even plead ignorance like a fly could.
